Loads of free holiday entertainment headed to town

With the Thanksgiving feast behind us and a quiet weekend ahead, this is an ideal time to reflect on some of our blessings that often are overlooked.

“Blessings” is the appropriate term in this context, for several of these good things come to us via local churches, although there is nothing inherently religious about the events themselves.

Near the top of any such list is the Music and the Arts series at Vineville United Methodist Church, now celebrating 26 years of free performances. On the schedule for next weekend is the Otis Redding Foundation’s Dream Choir, sure to be a hit. This year’s season was put together by series founder Dennis McCleary before his recent retirement. The success of this series over the years offers a testimony to the power of the individual to take meaningful action in a world battered by national and global forces. See for yourself at 4 p.m. Dec. 4.

Another church-related series that I don’t mention as often as I should is the free monthly Third Thursday Organ Interludes at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church — serene noonday experiences in a sublime setting.

HOLIDAY ENTERTAINMENT

The blockbuster holiday event in Macon is the annual production of “The Nutcracker” (running Dec. 7-11), but there’s plenty more, and much of it — especially the college-sponsored events — is free. If there is a drawback to the largesse, it’s that most of it is crowded into two weekends. Then, suddenly it’s over, with the arrival of old Santa still many days distant.

My favorite free event is just a week away: The Mercer University Singers will present “Lessons and Carols” at 7:30 p.m. Dec. 2-3 at St. Joseph Catholic Church. The following weekend, the Choral Society of Middle Georgia will team up those same singers and the Mercer Orchestra in the same venue for two performances of Handel’s “Messiah,” although there is an admission fee this time around.

There are a dozen or so more holiday events in that same period, but after that surge, we’ll be looking to Macon Little Theatre and Theatre Macon to keep us in the holiday spirit. If you have a taste for Charles Dickens or David Sedaris, you may want to point your sleigh towards Atlanta.

For the Grinches out there who think that it’s a little early to start with the “ho, ho ho,” note that the Wesleyan College theater department will be presenting “Edgy Bits: Four Plays about Women on the Edge” for adult audiences Dec. 1-3.

This story was originally published November 23, 2016 at 1:57 PM with the headline "Loads of free holiday entertainment headed to town."